1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of lead distribution and processing and more particularly to automatic lead distribution and processing confirmation systems and methods in a computer based environment.
2. Description of Background Art
Many businesses spend significant resources advertising their wares and services in order to attract clients. Oftentimes the success rate of many promotion activities such as direct mailings or cold-calls is low and inefficient. These direct mass mailings are frequently sent to users who have no interest or need for the advertised product or service. For example, an advertisement for the latest computer software program will typically not be effective if sent to a person who does not own or use a computer.
To increase the effectiveness of a sales force and of advertising resources, many companies focus their resources on potential customers who are more likely to be interested in the products or services. With reference to a sales force these potential customers are often called “leads.” The current method of developing and using leads has many problems. One such problem is that it is often difficult to identify promising leads. Another is that even when a promising lead is identified the lead is frequently “cold.” An example of a cold lead is one that at one time was interested in a product or service but has since become less interested.
A related problem is that companies (lead aggregators) often have a large number of leads based upon a variety of sources, e.g., Internet or mail registrations, marketing responses, etc. Oftentimes, these companies cannot follow up with all of these leads and as a result many of the leads are not contacted or become cold by the time they are contacted. Not only does this result in a lost opportunity but the lead may be expecting to be contacted so a significant delay in contacting the lead may make the lead less likely to purchase or use a product or service and can result in a loss of good will.
When a lead is expecting to be contacted, a company may assign the lead to a particular reseller or salesman who may not contact the lead in a timely manner, or may not contact the lead at all. Many companies do not have efficient systems and methods in place to track leads. Therefore the risk of reducing the company's good will because a lead is not properly or quickly contacted is a significant concern.
Another problem with conventional systems and methods is that a lead is often given to multiple resellers since no efficient techniques exist for matching the lead with a reseller and since no efficient follow-up system is in place. It is not uncommon for a lead to be contacted by many resellers which may bother the lead.
In addition, the large list of leads generated by such companies is of significant value to many resellers of products or services. However, these companies have no way of efficiently finding a reseller or salesman who is interested in receiving the lead. Another problem is that the company generating the leads may want to receive some compensation or benefit for each lead that results in a successful sale. Currently the company generating leads must rely on the reseller or salesman to accurately disclose the results of the leads. Another problem is that the lead aggregators may want to perform some pre-screening and pre-qualification of the reseller and/or the leads to make sure that the leads are matched with appropriate resellers. For example, a quality lead, e.g., a lead that may be the source of significant sales, should be matched with a high quality reseller. Currently, such matching is difficult and time consuming and, therefore, is rarely done.
Another problem with conventional systems is that resellers typically must contact the lead without any introduction. This cold-call makes the reseller's task more difficult. Currently, there is no efficient way of introducing leads to resellers.
Such conventional systems and methods for identifying and processing leads are inefficient and inaccurate. They do not enable leads to be efficiently identified, they permit a large number of leads to become cold, they permit a large number of leads to not be contacted, have no system or method in place to verify when a lead is contacted, and they do not have an efficient system or method for accurately reporting results of the contacts.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that (1) enables leads to be efficiently identified by an interested partner, salesman, or reseller; (2) reduces the number of leads that become cold; (3) motivates a reseller to promptly contact the lead; (4) automatically provides feedback to the lead and/or to the source of a lead when a reseller selects a lead and when the reseller processes the lead; (5) provides a system and method for automatically evaluating the result of a contact; (6) automatically increases the accuracy of the reporting of results; and (7) automatically introduces the reseller to a lead.